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Small Libraries 
Meeting at American Theological 
Library Association Annual Conference, 
Indianapolis, IN, June 14, 2018
By Karl Stutzman

Present

Roger Morales (ATLA), Susan Ebertz (Chair), Vance Thomas 
(Vice-Chair), Margaret Alkema, Ann Owen, Debbie Bradshaw, 
Alice Runis, Ann Heinrichs, James Humble, Charlotte Nutter, 
Andrew Kosmowski, Filomena Saxton, Conor Flatz, Gerone 
Lockhart, Cheryl Felmlee, Elizabeth Young Miller, Jane Chang, 
Ryan Shrauner, Gary Averill, Joan Pries, Elli Cucksey, Karl 
Stutzman (Secretary)

Susan Ebertz called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m.

Each person present introduced themselves and their partic-
ular small library context. There is a wide range of what it 
means to be a small library, but we all struggle to have enough 
staff and resources to do creative projects.

Susan Ebertz presented the agenda for this meeting and the 
minutes of the 2017 meeting. These were approved by accla-
mation.

Old business

 1.  Vance Thomas, Susan Ebertz, and Karl Stutzman produced one 
video. It’s awaiting permission from ATLA to use branding.

 2.  Elizabeth Young Miller and Vance Thomas were interested in 
doing further videos, but nothing has been produced. Others 
who are interested are welcome to join them.



22  ANNUAL YEARBOOK

New Business

 1.  Susan Ebertz reviewed bylaws adopted at the 2017 meeting. The 
group functions as a kind of “support group.” We hope to be able to 
do collaborative projects and brainstorm ideas. It would be inter-
esting to do more on information literacy. 

 2.  Request: Since many small librarians can’t always afford to attend 
the annual conference, could we offer a Zoom videoconference 
connection? This seemed like a reasonable request. The group 
agreed to try this for the next meeting.

 3.  Recommended resources for reading on small theological librar-
ies:

a.  Myka Kennedy Stephens, “The Future of the Small Theological 
Library,” Theological Librarianship 9, no. 1 (2016), 28-32. URL: 
https://theolib.atla.com/theolib/article/view/411

b.  Someone mentioned a bibliography compiled by Sandy 
Shapoval of Phillips Theological Seminary

 4.  Suggested email listserv discussion prompts that would be help-
ful to members of the group

a.  Balancing multiple roles beyond library services. Several 
members of the group noted that they are managing other 
services for their institution in addition to the library, e.g. writ-
ing support, bookstore, etc.

b. Next year’s conference presentation

 5. Other discussion: 

a.  We discussed library materials security systems. Some librar-
ies have systems in place. One library has a broken system they 
continue to pretend to use for visual effect. Some libraries work 
on the honor system with few problems.

b.  James Humble noted that he is working to improve response 
to workshops by getting to students at point of need: for exam-
ple, interacting in the cafeteria at the time papers are due. He is 
relying more on student workers to compensate for loss of a full 
time person.

Meeting adjourned by 6:00 p.m.

https://theolib.atla.com/theolib/article/view/411

	Preface
	Committee reports
	Committee for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
	Conference
	Endowment
	Professional Development

	Task Forcereports
	International Theological Librarian Education
	Scholarly Communication

	Interest Group Reports
	Public Services
	Small Libraries 
	Special Collections 
	Technical Services 
	World Religions 

	denominational Group reports
	Anabaptist Mennonite
	Anglican/Episcopal
	Baptist
	Campbell-Stone
	Lutheran 
	Methodist
	Orthodox
	Presbyterian and Reformed Librarians
	Roman Catholic

	memorials
	Officers of ATLA (1947–2018)
	ATLA Organizational Directory (2017–2018)
	ATLA Member Directory (2017–2018)
	historical Annual conferences
	AMENDED AND RESTATED BYLAWS OF AMERICAN THEOLOGICAL LIBRARY ASSOCIATION
	2017 ATS Library Statistics

